Thespis Project presents ‘The Wrong Side of Prohibition’

Myself and a few of the other lovely Plymouth bloggers were kindly invited to a super special event recently by the Thespis Project down at the Tigermilk cocktail bar at the Duke.

Thespis are one of the very few local theatre groups in Plymouth, so it was amazing to attend an event as special as this! Their stunning performance was set in the quirkiest 1920’s cocktail bar: Tigermilk. A speakeasy space with the best 5* service in town.

The theme of the bar matched perfectly to the performance. As we sat down and enjoyed our cocktails at our tables, the performance happened around us. That’s right- it’s not every day you are actually part of the performance you’re seeing. Everyone that had come to see the event were actually customers in the performance, too, which made the evening all the more exciting!

‘The Wrong side of Prohibition’ is a story about the speakeasy owner, Tony, an intimidating yet protective man that clings to everything he is: his power, his business and his reputation. All things that he fears are slipping away with his failing prohibited bar.

Working in the speakeasy for Tony are 5 girls- Rose, Maggie, Jennie and Greek immigrant, Anna. There is also Betty, the brave and confident second-in-command in Tony’s business and mother figure, who desperately wants to get her girls out of their endless abuse.

The hour long performance was so well created and structured, that I could barely believe it was over! It had wrapped me up into the scene and setting so much that I was left craving more, to know what happened after and what could have been. A story of forbidden romance, death and crime- it’s like they read my mind and knew what I loved best in a story-line! (I’m such a hopeless romantic!) Their remaining performances were sold out quickly, and for good reason. The show was a definite don’t miss!

Afterwards, the actors were free to grab themselves a drink and relax, chatting to their audience members and friends. It was amazing meeting Tassos Challas, the founder of Thespis Projects, also known as ‘Tony’ from the performance. He was very thankful for our feedback and was so happy to meet us! We also got chatting to the wonderful Nicola Tyrer, who played Anna, who was over the moon to have such an amazing turn out for the event! We gave her much praise for her solo-singing scene towards the end of the show, which was absolutely beautiful. Her voice is stunning!

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t absolutely in love with one character in particular: Maggie.

She was gorgeous, she was brave and she was strong. She stood for what she believed in and was prepared to let nothing get in her way. Her forbidden romance also really sucked me in, making me feel like I was part of the emotions that were spilling. Again, my inner hopeless romantic was sucking me in!

In fact, I was so in love with the character, they actually sent me an autograph from Sarah Lawrence, the astounding actress that played Maggie!

I really do look forward to the next performance, and I highly recommend seeing them if you get the chance to!

Another big thank you again to Thespis for inviting us and giving us an amazing evening to enjoy, and also a big thank you to LittleEllieMae, who recommended this fantastic event to us!